COLORADO BEETLE 



1494 



COLORADO SPRINGS 



and the university extension division. Because 

 of the beautiful situation of the university and 

 the delightful summer climate of the state, 

 the summer session is attractive to teachers. 

 The faculty numbers over 200, and there are 

 about 1,400 students enrolled. The library 

 contains nearly 80,000 volumes. To Colorado 

 come students from all over the country- 

 young men and women attracted by the health- 

 ful and scenic situation. Thus it has come 

 that the spirit of the university is distinguished 

 for (he breadth and character of its faculty and 

 student community. In this young and vigor- 

 ous institution early were planted the standards 

 and ideals of the greatest of the older American 

 universities. F.E.H. 



COLORADO BEETLE. See POTATO BUG. 



COLORADO RIVER, or RIO COLORADO, 

 ree'o kol o rah' do, a famous river of the South- 

 western United States, which flows through a 

 region remarkable not only for its magnificent 

 scenery, but also because it affords a striking 



THE COLORADO RIVER 



illustration of the mighty force of wind and 

 water in changing the contour of the land. 

 This stream, full of waterfalls and chasms, cuts 

 through Northern Arizona on its way to the 

 sea through one of the most wonderful gorges 

 in the world (see GRAND CANYON OF THE COLO- 

 RADO). Working its way, century after cen- 

 tury, through hard layers of rock, slowly deep- 

 ening its channel by the grinding action of its 

 pebbles, and aided by the gradual elevation of 

 the whole plateau, this great architect of nature 

 has cut a mighty gash in the bosom of the 

 earth, from the edge of which it gleams like a 

 winding, silver ribbon. 

 The Colorado is formed by the junction of 



the Green and Grand rivers, in Southeastern 

 Utah. From this point it flows southwesterly 

 through Utah and into Arizona, then, abruptly 

 turning to the left, swings westward through 

 the Grand Canyon. A second abrupt turn, 

 below its union with the Virgin River of 

 Nevada, gives it a southward course, and it 

 then flows as the boundary between Arizona 

 on the one side and Nevada and California on 

 the other, until it reaches the Mexican border. 

 Passing through 450 miles of Mexican territory, 

 it reaches the Gulf of California about 2,000 

 miles from the headwaters of the Green, and 

 about 1,100 miles from the union of the Green 

 and the Grand. 



The area drained by the Colorado and its 

 tributaries is about 225,000 square miles. It is 

 a river of great variations in descent, width 

 and depth. In some rocky places it is scarcely 

 more than seventy-five feet wide, but in the 

 open stretches and in the valley region of its 

 lower course it broadens out to a distance of 

 1,300 feet or more. In May and June floods 

 cause the river to overflow its banks, and in the 

 fertile valley near Yuma, Ariz., which is often 

 inundated, it is sometimes called the "Nile of 

 America." Light steamers can navigate the 

 Colorado for a distance of 500 miles from its 

 mouth, but the many channel obstructions 

 and the seasons of low water make the stream 

 as a whole of little value for navigation. 



COLORADO RIVER, one of the most im- 

 portant rivers of Texas, which, with its tribu- 

 taries, drains an area as large as the state of 

 Tennessee. Rising in the west-central part 

 of the state, at the foot of the Great Plains, 

 it flows southeasterly to the Gulf of Mexico 

 and empties into Matagorda Bay, 900 miles 

 from its source. The beautiful scenery of its 

 valley and the deep canyons along its course 

 make it one of the most picturesque streams 

 of the state. Austin, the capital of Texas, is 

 situated on the Colorado about 200 miles from 

 its mouth, and large steamboats ply up and 

 down the stream between that city and the 

 bay. The river is an important source of 

 water power, is used in irrigating the rice dis- 

 tricts along its southern course, and carries a 

 great deal of the local commerce of the sec- 

 tion through which it flows. 



COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO., the county 

 seat of El Paso County, is one of the favorite 

 tourist and health resorts of the United States 

 and an important center for the reduction and 

 refining of ores. The altitude of the city is 

 6,036 feet. Above it towers Pike's Peak, 14,- 



